Rick Jackson got off the bench to check into Syracuse’s lopsided laugher of a victory over DePaul with perhaps the most unlikely partner.

With guard Brandon Reese sitting next to him, Jackson prepared to get his final minute of playing time at the Carrier Dome. And then the crowd summarized the culmination of a season and career’s worth of Jackson’s play in three repeating words.

‘Thank you, Jackson!’ the crowd chanted, echoing the statement repeatedly for the final 57 seconds of Jackson’s time on Jim Boeheim Court.

In 27 minutes of play on Senior Day, Jackson had 14 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal in the Orange’s 107-59 walloping of the Blue Demons. This season, it’s a typical line for the steady Jackson. And that’s why, to many teammates, including longtime SU and Neumann-Goretti (Pa.) High School partner Scoop Jardine, it was the perfect send-off.

‘It was an average Rick performance,’ Jardine said. ‘He’s been doing this all year for us. I’m really happy for him. He’s done some great things here in four years.’

The last of those four years’ worth of performances inside the Dome came as Jackson all-around dominated in Syracuse’s astounding first half. By the end of the first 20 minutes, the game was all but over at 57-28. And Jackson’s contributions were a major reason for the eye-popping lead.

Jackson came out to a raucous ovation on a day mostly reserved for him, the only true senior on the Orange’s roster. He smiled, waved to the crowd and spun around in a circle with a plaque that bore his ’00’ jersey.

‘Just to get your jersey and to know you won’t be coming back,’ Jackson said, ‘that’s kind of weird right now. I just had a great time being here.’

After that, it was back to the same, consistent Jackson guiding the Orange all season long. Immediately, he used his strength to outmuscle DePaul’s Krys Faber. He backed down Faber before pulling up for his signature left-handed hook shot and gave SU an early 5-2 lead.

His domination came in many forms. There were little things, such as how his step out on a Blue Demon shooter forced a pass and subsequent shot-clock violation. He found C.J. Fair cutting down low, and Fair put in a left-handed scoop shot to give SU a 21-8 lead. Earlier in the half, after he swatted away a shot from Tony Freeland, he zipped a pass through the middle of three DePaul defenders right to a streaking Dion Waiters.

Jackson missed one shot in the first half. His response: hustle down the court, get the rebound off a missed DePaul heave and fling another rifle pass to Waiters. Waiters was fouled, and that led to the 57th and final point of the first half.

‘He does all the dirty work,’ Waiters said. ‘It was a great feeling, that one-two punch. Me and Rick, we got a lot of chemistry.’

Then there were the big things that resulted from Jackson’s dirty work. His emphatic dunk after a pass from Fair ignited a huge response from the crowd. It also ignited a timeout from DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell, and Jackson waived his hand to pump up the SU student section.

And in the second half, Waiters repaid Jackson with a nifty pass of his own. Waiters ran down the court, and as he leapt in the air, he spun around and found Jackson.

One step later, another forceful dunk followed.

‘I messed up on one of his assists,’ Waiters said. ‘I had to reward him back with my pass to him.’

For Jardine, the ultimate reward came in the form of the ‘Thank you, Jackson!’ chants. From an environment that all day, Purnell said, made it ‘difficult’ for the Blue Demons to succeed.

As Jardine heard the chant, he got goosebumps. He couldn’t help but remember the last four years. The four years wrapped quickly into moments, as Jackson came out of the game to a raucous ovation. He hugged SU head coach Jim Boeheim and went down the line. And finally, he waved to the student section for the last time. 

Said Jardine: ‘I had the chills seeing that.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm